SERIAL KILLER: Todd Kohlhepp

[00:00] This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. For some of us, summer means more juggling, which can lead to overwhelm and worry. BetterHelp makes it easy to get the support you need. Having served over 6 million people globally, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform. They'll match you with a quality licensed therapist, so you can focus on your therapy goals. You don't have to say yes to everything this summer. Find support in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash crimejunkie. That's betterhelp.com slash crimejunkie. [00:29] Hi, Crime Junkies. It's Britt, and I have big news. One of my favorite seasonal shows, CounterClock, is back with a brand new season, and it is wild. Host Delia D'Ambra is digging into the 2008 Lane Bryant murders. I mean, this isn't just a recap. It is a reinvestigation. She's talking to law enforcement, people from the community, even sources who have never spoken publicly until now. And you know I love a show that asks all the questions. Listen to CounterClock [00:59] Hi Crime Junkies, I'm your host Ashley Flowers and I'm Britt and today we have a super exciting episode for you guys All of our patrons will recognize this serial killer that we're talking about because One of the cases that we released actually just this last week on patreon a full-length episode Was about a person who might be one of this guy's victims So if after this story you need a little bit extra on this specific case You can go to patreon and just for five dollars You can get another full-length episode and two more after that [01:29] Also, stay tuned for the end of the episode. We are going to do our Pruppet of the Month segment.

[01:33] Thank you. [02:03] So, Britt, we actually released another full-length Patreon episode on August 1st about a woman who went home sick from work. She left a note for her husband that she's going to go take a walk. She would be home soon. But in like a two-hour window, she disappeared and hasn't been seen since. Uh-huh. [02:27] That case has some twists and turns, and one of the theories about what happened to her is that she was murdered by a local serial killer who was captured in late 2016. And I feel like you can never really make a determination on whether a theory is true or false until you have all of the facts. So I thought today we should talk about that serial killer. I think all of our regular listeners are going to enjoy it, and then I think all of our Patreon people, [02:57] we just told them in our... [02:59] full-length episode. [03:00] And to tell this story, I actually need to start back in 2003 with a case that was for some time one of South Carolina's most infamous cold cases. In the small town of Chesney, South Carolina, there was a shop that sold all kinds of motorbikes, like ATVs, motorcycles, you name it. It was called Superbike Store, and it was owned by a guy named Scott, and he had three employees.

[03:30] was a mechanic named Chris. And this was the kind of store where people would come shop, but they also had the regulars that would just come in once or twice a week just to see what's new, talk shop, or even just to hang out. And one of those regulars was a man named Noel. And on November 6, 2003, at around 2.30 p.m., Noel calls the store to let them know that he was going to swing by and drop off some event tickets. He talks to Scott's mom and she's like, sure, we'll all be here. We'll [04:00] Just come on by whenever you're ready. Now, Noel hops in the shower, and within 30 minutes, he is at the store, so not long at all. But when he pulls up, he is immediately concerned. Right away, he sees Brian's body laying face up in a pool of blood. [04:20] He's like half in the store, half out, propping open the front door. And as he gets out of his car to go to Brian, he sees Scott's body laying on the pavement, his body half under a car. Noel rushes inside and he uses the landline inside the store to call 911. [04:50] - While he's on the phone with 911, he sees Scott's mom deceased inside the store as well. And so he tells the operator that there are four dead inside the store.

[05:01] As he's telling the operator this, the operator is saying, you need to get out of the store now. He hangs up the phone, rushes across the street where he waits in the grass for several excruciatingly long minutes before the police and the ambulance arrive. Now, when they finally do, they know right away that everyone at the scene is deceased. [05:24] Though Noel didn't actually see Chris, he was in fact in the store as well, in the very back, slumped over a bike, and he was likely working on it, they're thinking, but he was shot once in the back of the head. [05:37] When police looked further at things, there didn't seem to be any motive for the killings. Not a single thing was taken, and there was even an envelope of cash left out completely untouched. So police had to wonder if this was some kind of personal attack. And if it was, which one of these four people were the intended target? Yeah, and it doesn't even sound like there was any sort of sign of conflict at the scene or anything. [06:07] was there probably started in the back with Chris. Since he was slumped over a bike, it seemed like he didn't even know what was coming. Then they went out and killed... [06:15] Scott's mom, and then they're thinking that Scott and Brian were actually trying to flee and run out of the store when they were shot as well. [06:22] So the police start looking at people close to the victims, and they start with Noel himself. There were a couple of fishy things about Noel's whole experience when he just, like, happened upon the bodies. Police thought, for one, it was super strange that he called within 30 minutes and then everyone was dead. And they're thinking maybe he was calling to make sure that the person he wanted to get was there. Maybe he was calling to make sure the store wasn't super busy.

[06:52] this he's just like no it's that was just bad luck like I I can't explain it it just sucks so they're like okay well maybe that's just coincidence but the other thing that's super fishy is you had a cell phone but instead of like coming up you see your friends dead in trouble. [07:09] the parking lot and inside the door, why would you run inside to use the landline? Why wouldn't you just use your cell phone? And Noel says... [07:19] Listen, I have no idea. Like, I literally... It was instinct. Yeah, that's what he said. He's like, I saw my friends, like, bleeding and dying, and I just ran, and I forgot I had a phone, and I just did what I, like... I went into shock, basically. And then the other thing they said that was super weird, but I think can be explained away by the same thing, is that they're saying, okay, when you came to the store, you saw Scott, you saw Brian, you saw Scott's mom, but you told the operator that there were four deceased. Yeah. [07:49] You didn't see Chris. Like in none of your statements did you say that you saw Chris, but somehow you knew he was dead as well. And Noel's just saying, listen, I was a regular. I knew Chris worked at the shop every single day. There's four people that always work there, and I knew that he would be there as well. [08:04] And if he wasn't, if Chris wasn't around helping, he must be dead or injured as well. [08:09] Exactly. Now, even though all of this seems off, I think we can, we agreed here, like there's a lot of reasonable explanations for this and Noel's answers for everything do check out and he is eventually cleared by police. [08:22] Now, while they're talking to and looking at Noel, they were also talking to witnesses and trying to find out who would have been at the store. And they find out that there was a couple of cars seen in the parking lot around the time of the murders. One was a boxy red car and the other was a blue pickup truck. And they produce sketches of these and release them to the public asking for anyone to come forward who either has a car like this or knows someone who does.

[08:49] Now there's a man that comes forward, not about the cars, but about something else that he saw. He said that he was actually inside the store right before the murders. He was there making his regular monthly payment when he saw a man who came in asking about a specific bike. But, he said, it seemed like this guy knew nothing about bikes at all. Like the whole interaction felt super strange, super off, enough that this guy stood out to him. [09:19] this guy was asking about a black bike that was in the showroom, but when police arrived on the scene, this crime scene, the bike was actually in the back. So it seemed like maybe a really good lead, like maybe this guy got them to bring the bike back, and then that's where he started his killing spree. And they get a description of this man, and he's a white man, 25 to 40, approximately six feet [09:49] now they make a sketch of this guy but when they release it they do something kind of tricky something we actually saw police do in the Delphi case that [10:01] which for us was episode 10, Killer on the High Bridge. They released this sketch to the public and said, Hey, one of the customers saw this guy, and we think this guy may have been the real last customer and could have seen the real killer. Like, he's just somebody we want to talk to. We don't think he's a suspect at all. We just think he might know something, like, help us find this key witness. Of course, though, no one comes forward.

[10:31] Yeah. [10:47] So the sketches of the car and this customer slash suspect are going nowhere. So they go back to looking at the lives of the victims. And they start with the store owner, Scott. He was married to a woman named Melissa. And they had one child together. The police wanted to find out more about their marriage. So they call Melissa in multiple times for interviews. And they're looking for any kind of discrepancies in her story or for any marital problems that might have existed. But she isn't giving them anything. [11:17] can't shake this sneaking suspicion that something was up. So one time when Melissa was in for questioning, she changes her baby's diaper. Well, when she leaves, detectives retrieve the diaper from the trash and compare the baby's DNA to Scott's, which they collected from him during his autopsy. And they find something that confirms police's suspicion that Melissa has something to hide. So, [11:44] The test comes back showing that Scott is not the father of her baby. According to the tests, Brian, who is Scott's friend and employee, who also died that day, is the baby's father. Now, Brian is also married with kids, so this is explosive for police. And it seems like it gives Melissa a motive to be involved. I mean, it definitely is scandalous, but why would she want them both dead? It doesn't really make sense to me.

[12:14] So say Scott finds out, but she really wanted to be with Brian. I can see you. [12:18] maybe wanting Scott dead. But I don't see a scenario where you want both of these men dead, unless... Yeah, I would say, and even you want Brian dead so he can't find out and or tell... [12:29] Scott, but both of them [12:31] Seems counterproductive. Totally agree. I think the only thing police might have thought is maybe it was some... [12:37] semi-professional hit. She like hired somebody to do it and things went wrong. So everyone ended up dying. So they bring Melissa in to confront her and she is shocked by this. She swears up and down that there is no way anyone but Scott could be her child's father. But police are like, listen, DNA does not lie. And she begs for another test. She's like, there has to be some kind of mix up. So they're like, okay, you know, we, but we believe in the test. So we'll give you another test. [13:07] second test comes up with the same results. Scott is not the father and the father is 100% Brian. That was a very Maury moment. I know. You are not the father. This starts causing a lot of problems for Melissa because not only are the police looking at her, but Scott's family is now even suspicious of her. And this is when Melissa lawyers up and she shuts off communication with [13:37] her lawyer is present. But even then, like, even if they go in, he's like, do not say anything. And of course, this just makes people think that she's being even fishier. And I know this is one of those things that makes you look bad, but it's like not taking a polygraph. Like, forget that. Get a lawyer,

[13:52] always get a lawyer, especially if they're telling you that they have DNA evidence that you know is wrong. So this cloud of suspicion lingered over Melissa for 18 months until police finally decided to double check the crime lab's work. Oh my gosh. As you were talking, I was like, [14:12] What if they mixed it up? Oh, girl. So they said, okay, Melissa swears that we have it wrong. [14:19] And she's not cracking. It's been a year and a half. Let's try this. Let's test Scott's DNA against his mother's DNA, who was also killed in the store. There's no question about her maternity to him, so we can clear this up once and for all. So they test the DNA that they have for Scott against his mom, and sure enough, it does not match. So they test what they think is Brian's DNA against Scott's mom, and it does match. [14:49] 18 months. They had Scott and Brian's DNA mixed up. Can I pause just for like a second? Yeah. Yeah. [14:57] So... [14:58] I... [15:00] I'm obsessed with all the DNA stuff that's going on and crimes getting solved, but stuff like this terrifies me. [15:05] Right? [15:06] I feel like if this can happen once, it can happen every 1 in 10, 1 in 20, 1 in 5. We have no idea. [15:16] It's just something that echoes in the back of my mind... [15:19] Mainly because I'm a conspiracy theorist and probably a defense lawyer at heart, but the loss of integrity just...

[15:27] is so frightening to me. Well, and this very much reminds me of the Barbara and Claire case that we covered just a couple of weeks ago. I mean, in our minds, we've had this like CSI mentality that like DNA is like... DNA is DNA, yeah. Yeah, but you know who's behind all the DNA testing? Like humans. Yes, and humans mess up. And it's terrifying that literally, I mean, if they wouldn't have retested, can you imagine if they were just so set in their ways and they're like, okay, we're going to pin this on Melissa because... [15:57] and [15:58] pinned it on her. I mean... [16:00] We are obviously huge supporters of law enforcement and all that, but... [16:05] This is... [16:06] This is crazy. This is like as enraging to me as the state of Washington missing person cases last week. So this was 18 months that they thought Melissa had something to do with it. And 18 months that I bet a lot of time was lost looking into Melissa instead of real suspects. Because police had a list of customers from the store, they had a list that they were methodically going through. Like calling each person. I mean, they have to keep moving. [16:36] stick on Melissa. So they're like calling each person. Sometimes they would get a call back. Sometimes they wouldn't. And if they would have been paying more attention to who was on that list and who did not call back and less attention to Melissa, then they would have been paying more attention to Melissa. [16:51] they would have known that their killer was on that list. [16:56] We're all online so much, it's easy to forget about a purchase that you made even two days ago. And I don't know about you, but me and my husband sometimes will purchase like the same subscription and we've got it twice. But that doesn't need to happen with Rocket Money because Rocket Money helps monitor your spending like a personal assistant for your wallet. Beyond stopping money leaks, the app consolidates all your accounts into a single dashboard. You can get personalized insights, reports and custom real-time alerts to stay on top of your budgeting goals.

[17:26] with just a few taps, saving users over $880 million in canceled subscriptions. So basically, this app gives you an easy, intuitive, and effective way to control your finances. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at rocketmoney.com slash crimejunkie. That's rocketmoney.com slash crimejunkie. [17:56] rocketmoney.com slash crimejunkie. [17:59] Now as the years passed there didn't seem to be any other cases like this one from all outward appearances This seems like a one-time spree killer with little to no motive like either he died. He was incarcerated or he just never killed again but [18:15] He was killing again. Only no one knew the first time, and no one paid any attention. In December of 2015, a married couple named Johnny and Megan Coxie went missing after being released from jail. Now, these two were not the most upstanding citizens. Megan had actually been in jail because she was caught doing heroin while pregnant. Her baby had tested positive. And her husband was in jail for endangerment, driving under the influence, possession of drug paraphernalia, and an open container. [18:45] But they both got released around the same time, and Megan had actually told her mom, listen, I need you to bail me out because I have some work lined up, like I'm trying to get it together. But after she was bailed out, Johnny was released a short time after, and then both just went missing, off the face of the earth. We've seen this in a lot of other cases, where people with a history of drug use or arrests go missing, and everyone's just kind of like, meh, they probably went on a bender, maybe they'll show up eventually, maybe they won't.

[19:15] But I think a lot of people thought they likely went missing on their own. And it would be almost a year before police, the public, and the families of Johnny and Megan found out that they did not go missing voluntarily. It was when another couple disappeared that we finally start to get some answers to all of these cases. A couple whose names were Charlie and Kayla. Now, Charlie and Kayla didn't have the same history as Johnny and Megan. They hadn't been to jail. They hadn't been arrested. They didn't have a history of drug use. [19:45] 2016 when friends and family realized that the couple hadn't been in contact with anyone since august 31st everyone started taking this pretty seriously and of course there's a big red flag that to any dog lover means something awful has happened when family yes when family went to their home their beloved pomeranian was in terrible condition hadn't been let out had no food no water which like again i said this in like the robert fisher episode if i leave charlie like you [20:16] Find me. [20:17] Everyone was sure something bad had happened to Charlie and Kayla. The families of both filed missing persons reports. [20:24] And an investigation was opened. Police subpoenaed all their phone records, Facebook records, anything to try and figure out where the couple would have last been and who they were last in contact with. As police are collecting this information and talking to their friends and family, something super creepy starts happening. [20:45] In late September, early October, someone starts posting as the couple on Facebook. Life events start popping up. Like on July 1st, Charlie posts that they're expecting a daughter together. And then on August 1st, he posts that they bought a house together.

[21:01] And then September 1st, he posted they got married. But... [21:06] All of these were retroactively logged, meaning that all of the posts were made on October 1st, but then posted like trying to backdate them. [21:15] Also, friends were getting strange messages that didn't sound like the couple, and Charlie was posting song lyrics. One of them was from the Eagles, their song Hotel California. He posted the lyrics, Last thing I remember, I was running for the door. I had to find the passage back to the place I was before. Relax, said the night man. We're all programmed to receive. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. [21:45] creepy and ominous for somebody that's missing. And there was also this like really strange incident where Charlie had posted an old picture of the couple and then immediately deleted it. But of course, like when they subpoena the records, they can get all this information. And the caption under this picture was, we are fine, which is like not the way you tell people that you're fine if you're missing. That's the best way to be like, we're not okay. Come find me right now. [22:13] So it was actually these postings that made national news. And I remember seeing this story here in Indiana because everyone was talking about how it was clearly someone else making these posts while the couple was missing. And then it got everyone thinking that maybe they were being held captive or maybe they had already been killed. But nobody could really understand why somebody was pretending to be them.

[22:33] Investigators finally get the cell records and they track down where their phones were up until the moment that the phones died. And they trace the pings to a town called Woodruff in South Carolina. This is a super small town, just about 50 miles from where the two had lived. Along with this, they see that Kayla had been exchanging some Facebook messages over the last few months with a man named Todd Kohlhepp about doing some work in Woodruff. So this is the second time they're seeing Woodruff. [23:03] In this time, the police had also been hearing rumors that the two were dead and buried on a 100-acre lot near Woodruff. Again, Woodruff. Now, they knew their phones were there. They knew that she had done work there. So they're thinking, God, there might be something to these rumors. So the police call the Spartanburg Sheriff's Office because Woodruff is in their jurisdiction. And they tell them everything that they have. And they ask them, do you know of any 100-acre property that this might be? [23:33] And the sheriff's office says... [23:35] In all of Woodruff, [23:37] There is one property that is 100 acres. So before they just go barging in, they decide to get a helicopter and do a flyover search to see if they can spot Charlie's white car, because that's been missing with the couple. But this air search turns up nothing. And when they start looking into who owns the piece of land, which, by the way, is totally fenced and locked in, all 100 acres, they find that it belongs to a real estate agent named...

[24:06] Todd Kohlhepp, the same guy that Kayla had communicated with on Facebook. Now, this isn't where his home is located. It's just a second property he owns with this two-story garage and a storage shed. [24:20] Even though they didn't find Charlie's car, they feel like this is more than enough evidence to get a search warrant. So they do. And I completely agree. I don't know why we didn't get a search warrant like, [24:29] Months ago. So they get a warrant for this home... [24:32] They get a warrant for the second property, and they go to both at the same time. So that way, they're either going to catch him at one of them, and he can't hide something at the other. The team who goes to the property in Woodruff, they cut the fence open. [24:46] They scan the land, and then they head for that two-story garage. And inside... [24:51] There's a loft that has this bed with chains on the bed. And this is when police start hearing it. [25:01] they start hearing a thumping sound. And it's not in the garage, it's outside. So they leave the garage and start following the noise until it becomes louder and louder, and it's coming from this 30-foot storage shed. Police come up close to the shed, [25:19] very quietly [25:21] And they hear it again, like a thump, thump. So one of the officers knocks back. And as soon as he knocks, he hears a woman screaming, someone is alive in that shed. And immediately, like everyone mobilizes. And they try and get this thing open, but it's been bolted shut. So they go back into the garage and find these tools and get this shed open.

[25:46] I'm like about to cry right now. [25:51] I got it, watch out. [25:55] Anybody got a handcuff key? [25:56] Handcuff key. I got it right here. [25:59] Hold up. Don't slide back. Hold up. He's got a light. So when they had opened this container, it was pitch black. And as they moved through it, like trying to find their way, it's when they go all the way to the back of the shed that there. There they find Kayla sitting on a mattress with her ankles bound with a chain around her neck like a dog. And they finally get her out. While she's in there, she says that Todd has shot her boyfriend. So he is dead and buried on the property. They get her into an ambulance. [26:29] And when she gets in the ambulance, she tells police about her experience over the last couple of months. [26:35] What did Todd do while you were there? [27:05] sexually and then he'd put me back in the building. And then he would always come back, like, five and seven, take me back up to the building, beat me again, go full of time, do whatever, get whatever out of me, weren't sexually again. And I refused to do any things if I wanted. And I said no, he didn't force himself on me because he said he didn't believe

[27:35] but he made it very well known why I was there, and if I wasn't useful, that I wouldn't need to be kept any longer, and that he would shoot me. [27:44] Did he ever tell you how many people he's killed out there? [27:50] Story-wise, he told me about four. He also told me that he walked into, a few years back, that he walked into a bike shop at Anderson and shot four people and left, and they never found out who did it. He liked to brag that he was a serial killer and a mass murderer. [28:05] She starts to cry and just like muddles under her breath. [28:18] I didn't want to be his partner. So this ride in the ambulance, this is the first time that they start to hear that maybe Todd is connected to more murders. And maybe he's connected to the superbike murders. Now keep in mind, this whole time, police were with Todd at his residence where they had their own search warrant. So as soon as they had Kayla arrested, they asked Todd if he wanted to confess or if he wanted to tell them anything. And he just shuts police down. [28:48] I have no idea what you're talking about. I want a lawyer. But of course, he did know what they were talking about. They found Charlie's body on his property, along with the bodies of Megan and Johnny, who had gone missing one year earlier. And that everyone was like, oh, they'll just show up eventually.

[29:06] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades. Thank you. [29:25] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to the deck now. [29:33] wherever you get your podcasts. [29:36] Eventually, in an hour-long tape confession, which you can find online, he confesses to killing Charlie, Johnny, and Megan, and he also confesses to the Superbike murders. Now, I don't even want to play his confession tape because it is all such BS. Somehow, he tries to justify every single killing. You see, we find out what Todd would do to get couples to his property. [30:06] he was a real estate agent. So he's, [30:08] At least for Kayla, they started off really normal, and we only have her account because she's the only living victim. She said that, listen, like, I would go to different houses he was showing. I got paid. Like, it wasn't weird. It was a good gig. And then one day... [30:22] he asked her to come to a property that he owned because he needed help clearing some brush. So he would get them to voluntarily come to this property in Woodruff. He would unlock the fence. He would let them in, lock the fence behind them. And the whole time, Kayla said that there were no red flags. She never felt threatened until Todd went to his garage and came out with a gun and shot Charlie three times.

[30:52] But unfortunately in Megan's case, he didn't keep her as long as he kept Kayla. Todd said that her mood swings are too severe and he couldn't get her to cooperate. [31:01] Now, Todd's versions of all of this is that each time he brought these people to his land, he really wanted to hire them. But he said these people were down on their luck. They saw a rich man with money. And so they took the opportunity to mug me. And every time I just defended myself and I killed the men. And that does not explain. It's really convenient that you just kill the men each time, that these two people do the exact same thing. Even if it happened once, you're going to do the same thing again. It doesn't make sense. [31:31] And, like, if you get mugged by a couple once, you probably won't hire a couple again. Right. And so even if you got mugged, that does not explain why at any point you're keeping women chained up as, like, slaves in the world. [31:45] in your storage shed. So he also told this long story about the super bike murders and how he killed everyone there because he had bought a bike and it was stolen and someone who worked at the store had told him that they were the ones that like stole it back from him. So he killed all of them. And he keeps just trying to justify what's going on. And he keeps just trying to justify [32:04] what he's done, but I think all of his excuses are totally fabricated, and they're not even really excuses at all. He was a demented man who had shown signs of his depravity in childhood, because at age 15, he actually held a girl a year younger than him at gunpoint while he raped her.

[32:23] And now his actions in 2003, 2015, 2016 are just an escalation of that. After he went to prison and he was convicted of all seven crimes, he wrote one of the local papers in South Carolina. And what he wrote was, quote, I tried to tell investigators and I did tell the FBI, but it was blown off. [32:45] It's not an addition problem. It's a multiplication problem. Leaves the state, leaves the country, [32:52] Thank you, private pilot's license. So he was basically telling them, like, I tried telling everyone that there are more bodies. And it's not like... [33:00] Oh, you killed seven, like a couple more than seven? He's saying it's a multiplication problem, 14, 21. And if you remember in Kayla's clip, he told Kayla that he had killed... [33:11] like at least high two figures and was trying to get to three. So this is still a lingering question in the case. Are there more victims? Did he really just kill four people, then change his MO, wait 12 years before he struck again? [33:25] It's possible. And a lot of professionals think that he, like that's exactly what he did and he's full of it. They say without telling any names or location, he's just boasting. He's just trying to get attention and he didn't really do anything. But it's hard not to question that, especially when you hear about the missing person cases, like the one that we covered. Because it's so close to where he was. I mean, if they hadn't tracked down Kayla's like Facebook stuff, like before Facebook became big, could he have captured other people?

[33:55] you. [33:56] So we still just don't know. Like, do you believe the police? Is this it? Do we have Todd in prison for all of the crimes he committed? Have we found all of the bodies? Or do you believe Todd, who says that it isn't a question of addition to his seven victims, but... [34:13] Multiplication [34:14] you guys can see some pictures of everyone we talked about in this story on our blog at crimejunkiepodcast.com and remember that our store is still open all of the apparel is no longer available unfortunately but we still have mugs and window clings and water bottles and i keep [34:44] It's so exciting. Don't forget, you guys, if you want more on this story, we have another full-length episode that you can get that might be directly related to this case on Patreon. Just go to patreon.com slash crimejunkie. And for $5, you can get three episodes, three full-length episodes. That's three more drives to work, three more hours of cleaning. It'll be awesome. If not, you can just go to our website, crimejunkiepodcast.com, to see some pictures that we talked about today. [35:14] at Crime Junkie Podcast. This episode of Crime Junkie was written and hosted by me, edited by David Flowers, mixed and mastered by Britt Prewatt, and all of our music, including our theme, comes from Justin Daniel. Crime Junkie is an Audio Chuck production. So what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?

[35:44] You tore my up and down, my bread and jolt. [35:48] I do have to tell you that, do you know how I remake every song on the radio about dogs? Yes. Yes. [35:54] I'm like very excited for a Bohemian Rhapsody movie to come out and so all week in my mind all I've been singing is I see a little silhouette of a puppy he is cute he is cute so I just wanted to to let you know that make sure it's stuck in everyone else's head thank you [36:17] *laughs* [36:18] So what dog are we talking about this week? Today we are talking about Yogi, and I'm so excited about this. [36:29] It comes from one of our listeners named Elizabeth, and she has a very unique gotcha story for Yogi. And the way she starts it out is that Yogi isn't really what you would call a typical rescue dog. [36:48] ride to how she got him and I just love it. Okay, I'm in. [36:52] So when Elizabeth was between the ages of 8 and 10, she had an obsession with chihuahuas. Like everything she owned was chihuahua themed. And she dreamed about the day that one day she too could own a chihuahua. [37:07] So random. I mean, it's like very specific. It really is. She was so desperate and meticulously organized that she created multiple PowerPoint presentations for her parents

[37:22] She deserved a chihuahua of her own, which I think is just, like, the most adorable thing in the world. I would die. That is amazing. I would... [37:31] Three PowerPoints in, I'd be like, yes, you're getting one. [37:35] As you sit between, like, 17 dogs. Yeah, I know. [37:41] So, to satisfy this insatiable Chihuahua obsession, Elizabeth fell in love with her grandma's neighbor's Chihuahua, Yogi. At the time, Yogi was three years old and spoiled rotten. The original owner was a single guy in, like, his 70s or 80s, and he treated Yogi... [37:59] like we all do, like his child. Yeah, of course. But that's mostly because his own children were estranged from him and had cut off all communication with him many years before. [38:10] And I love this line that Elizabeth wrote. She said, to give you an idea of just how bougie Yogi's life was, Yogi had his own place at the dinner table and his owner had hand carved him this beautiful Austrian inspired dog house that folded up to look like it's. [38:26] Stop. Yeah, it looked like this little Austrian cabin in the woods, and it unfolded and acted as a double bed for Yogi. So I want Yogi's life at this point. Yeah, Yogi is bad and bougie. Oh my god. [38:42] So, the only downside was Elizabeth's grandmother lived about two hours away from them, so she would spend weeks there in the summer and visit her once a month throughout the school year. So she got to see Yogi a lot, but it just made her chihuahua obsession worse. Oh, yeah.

[39:12] and bring them over to him. And she has this very vivid memory of Yogi's birthday one year, where she was at her grandma's house, learning how to sew, and she asked to make a blanket for Yogi. And then she monogrammed his name on it as a nine-year-old. This girl knows obsession like no one else. Only I can obsess about something this intensely. [39:39] Maybe that's why I love this story so much. [39:42] Yeah. [39:43] hand-baked dogs treats, the whole nine yards. And one morning, Elizabeth wakes up [39:50] And her mom was, like, very, like, somber. And she... [39:54] sat Elizabeth down and told her that Yogi's owner had passed away and they needed to go to her grandma's city. And Elizabeth was really obviously sad by this news, but also really confused because [40:07] didn't know why they were going to this other city two hours away. They didn't really know the owner super well, so it didn't really make sense to go to the funeral. And if he had just passed away, it wouldn't be right away. And then her mom told her that Yogi's owner had seen how much that Elizabeth loved Yogi and knew there was no better home for him than with a little girl who would shower him with love and give him everything he ever wanted. Come on! [40:37] as Yogi's original owner had done for the first three years of Yogi's life. And this was the first time Elizabeth had ever been included in someone's will. And apparently,

[40:50] Elizabeth's mom had known that she would get Yogi for a while, that Elizabeth was in this guy's will, and she didn't tell Elizabeth because she thought it would mess with... Elizabeth's high-women wishing that guy would die. Right, she thought it would... She thought she'd be... She'd, like, make... Like, Elizabeth would just, like... [41:07] obsess over this guy dying. Not cool. And Elizabeth was like, I know it sounds weird. I'm very glad she waited to tell me. Yeah! By this time, Elizabeth's mom had actually [41:17] gotten Elizabeth another kind of puppy, but before she learned about adopting and not shopping, so there's that. So they actually had another dog in the house, and they had actually settled on a German Shepherd slash Australian Healer puppy named Sherlock, and they instantly became friends... [41:33] him and Yogi. Oh, of course they did. And ten years later, the two are still inseparable. [41:40] And there are... Also, Yogi's like, what, 13 now? Yes! Oh, man. When I contacted Elizabeth about this story and wanting to cover Yogi and his gacha, um... [41:51] she is actually in Austria right now, which is... [41:54] Crazy. Wow. And the only pictures that she has of Yogi with her right now are with Sherlock. So we will get to see both of them on our blog. And evidently there was some drama over Yogi. One of the original owner's ex-girlfriends saw... [42:09] Elizabeth walking Yogi one day and was like, that's my dog! And started screaming and running over towards her. And at this point in time, Elizabeth's 12, which she says is prime kidnapping age, and gives a lot of warnings. Like, hey guys, just don't go over to people's houses. If people come running screaming at you, please avoid them and such. But yeah, so they got it all solved...

[42:38] She got to keep Yogi. And he's 13 now. He's still her best friend. He's going deaf and blind. And Elizabeth said that she started crying at work while she was typing this. So, Elizabeth, I'm so sorry, but we love this story so much. We were so up for, like, the whole story. Don't you dare take me down this rabbit hole. Okay, that's all I'm going to say. Now we're going to talk about how... [43:00] Yogi used to be really fat. [43:03] Yogi used to be super fat? Yeah, he used to be, quote, a bit of a chunky monkey. And now his favorite snacks are carrots. [43:11] Oh, Yogs. And he has a favorite toy that's a stuffed duck, and it's almost twice the size of him, and he hates high-pitched sounds. [43:23] Ugh, yikes. [43:25] But what's funny about that is... [43:27] Elizabeth's family is musical. She's a singer and her mom's a professional trumpet player, so it's kind of a nightmare for Yogi and he howls quite a bit. [43:38] Oh, poor guy. Do you think they sing him my song? Oh, I'm sure. [43:45] I see a little silhouette of a yogi. He is cute. He is cute. If they don't, they will now. [43:56] Bye. [43:58] Okay, crime junkies, you know I absolutely love a twist and a turn, especially when it comes to people who turn out to be someone they're not. That's why I have been obsessed with the podcast Chameleon. Every Thursday, host Josh Dean deep dives into a scam so bizarre, it will leave you wondering, how did they get away with that?

[44:16] It is truly one of my favorite podcasts right now and I've been listening for years. [44:20] I think you'll love it too. [44:21] Listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts.